Blue
by LeadHeart787
Summary: When Krieg's fascination with Maya's siren tattoos becomes too strong, the two are thrown in a loop of silly but adorable encounters in Hayter's Folly. A tale of trust, fluff and bonding awaits.
1. So

-**Blue**- pt1

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A one-shot Borderlands 2 fic by C. Hopwood

3rd-person omniscient

Maya/Krieg

Contains: Nudity, fluff, coarse language, be wary of any coincidental sexual content

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**Disclaimer: Alright. This is my first time writing Borderlands fan-fiction. I am mostly fearful of even posting this mainly because I know how fierce people are when trying to represent the Vault Hunters properly. In this case, I tried to play it carefully; I am mostly scared about how I represent Krieg and Maya in this piece. Of course, this is my own interpretation and in no way will I exploit such an interpretation to be more 'canon' than anyone else's.**

**...Otherwise, thank you for clicking, I hope you like what's ahead. 3 I'm curious as to how I did.**

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This is presumably after the Vault Hunters got to know each other, and Maya and Krieg are pretty comfortable around each other (if not close friends), working out the kinks with Krieg's outer craziness and all. She can understand him most of the time.

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_Ah, the silence again. Isn't it nice?_ his mind spoke out as if the siren next to him could hear, but obviously that was not the case. The two were planted on the same respective couch in the HQ they always seemed to retreat to when taking a stop there. This situation was no different; mission briefing? This couch. Game night? This couch. Hangover? This couch- not shared. The floor was a nice resting area to whoever didn't get the couch first.

Nevertheless.

"So?" the familiar line blurted out from Maya, as it always did whenever they were seemingly alone- or just needed a subject to build upon. Talking to Krieg was difficult, sure, but it was obvious the psycho was listening to her on the inside. His eye contact and small, subtle body language always told her they're getting somewhere. That was good to see.

_Awesome. No-one seems to be around. Time for a chat I'm guessing,_ his mind whispered in glee, awaiting the words from the siren.

"I've been working on something for a while. Wanna see?" her tone didn't show any hint of awkward gawk or mumble; they've spent so much time in eachother's presence she knew it was pointless to hold a timid stance while she talked with the psychotic giant. At least he seemed controlled around her. Understanding this, her voice was full of cockiness and care-free edge.  
Krieg didn't respond, but his body did with a jerk of his head in a weird nod. Maya outstretched her right arm and raised her palm towards the door on the far side of the room.

For emphasis she uttered a spooky '_oooOOoo_' and waggled her fingers as a burst of energy rushed up her arm, lighting up the tattoos and instantly lighting the door aflame with a phaselock. She snorted and covered her face in laughter as she saw that it worked, not taking into consideration she just damaged the property. Again.  
Krieg was about to react when she cast her other arm out in front of him, saying between laughs, "NOT FINISHED- hold on-" her tattooed arm brought itself upwards and she rested her fingers in a fist- that put out the flames and 'healed' the door, seemingly hiding any damage done to it seconds before. Krieg's showing eye just stared unblinking at the metallic entrance that was blazing seconds ago, a small smile curling underneath his mask.

"Light up tHE FEAST AND PUT OUT WITH a niice, SWEET BANG!" Krieg flailed a bit and barked in glee, staring Maya dead in the face after she finished her laughing fit. _Why is she laughing so hard?~_ the head voice teased, causing the giant to instinctively hit himself with a flat palm to the temples.

"Okay-Okay-" Maya fanned herself with a blubber of her lips and scooted so she was facing Krieg. "That never works- that was seamless. TOTALLY a fluke. You're lucky to have saw that and no-one dying in the process," she snickered, burying her face into the couch wall with muffled snorts.  
_If only she could see us smiling,_ said the little man inside. It was true- the mask never helped in these situations. In this case, he wasn't just contagiously smiling because the pretty lady was- but he also found himself intrigued. His stare travelled up Maya's glowing arm with an obvious admiration for Ms. Siren's glowy bits. He wanted to say something.

_I've always wondered how the skin of a siren does that,_ his thoughts continued, his outer self agreeing with a subtle grunt and leant forward in curiosity. _Hold on- what are you doing-_

Maya was silenced with a sudden gasp as her tattooed arm was pulled forward by a nervous and touchy Krieg, feeling his oddly calloused fingers run up the blue markings. She would've slapped anyone else away, phaselocked them or choked em' by now, but this was Krieg- Krieg. Just Krieg. She raised a brow and decided to go with it.

"Heh, don't need to rub it in, I know, they're really cool." She nodded and eased her arm into a comfortable bend as Krieg's grip loosened, letting the man explore the labyrinth of blue markings for a little bit before commenting again.  
"Alright big guy- watch this," she said as she took in a slow breath, letting small waves of energy pulse upwards towards her shoulders. The glow made the big man flinch at first, almost dropping her arm, but only leant down more to the point where his eye was inches from her wrist. It mesmerized him.

_God. Look at him go. Is he really that interested?_ Maya let the idle thought sit there and then built on it. _This is amusing. I just hope it doesn't distract him in combat. What a little kid._ She grinned and shook her arm, gently pulling Krieg away from it. He backed up immediately.

"Graceful blue lady has nice star meat-" he started in a cracked up voice, obviously having enjoyed that little time of discovery. Maya held herself back from laughing and just perked up a cocky smirk.

Before their conversation could continue, footsteps pattered quickly from outside and the door burst open, producing a frantic Mordecai eagerly staring at the duo.

"Crap cRAP CRAP- Maya, psychoman, have you seen it?!" his hand flailed from the door and he gasped, shaking it off. "JEEZ- why is this door so damn hot?" Maya curled her lip in slight guilt. He seemed to be jumping around the room practically, his head snapping to every crevice in the floors and walls.

Maya was about to giggle but chose to ask quickly out of concern instead. "W-where's what? Lost something?" Mordecai froze and just deadpannedly boared his eyes into the siren with bemusement. "My gun. The LEGENDARY ONE? THE FANCY SCHMANCY-" he snapped his fingers a bunch of times and sighed. "Okay okay- sorry. Hold on. Gotta contain myself." he took a deep breath and gestured to them both. "Considered a LEGENDARY sniper rifle. Shining maliwan. Any of you seen it around? Gaah- it's been killing me today, it's like it disappeared overnight!"  
"No sign of SHINY SOUL STABBER, BIRDMAN," Krieg shouted, startling Maya a tad, but his outburst was expected. Maya just shrugged in the same helpless manner and the hunter's face returned to that of desperation.

"If it is the one/ with the tracking gear on it/ then we can follow it," a filtered voice echoed around the room, and Zer0 uncloaked on the couch next to the doorway. Krieg stood up suddenly, as if that was a cue for some sort of road trip.

Mordecai's head flipped to Zer0's revealed frame and hope swelled in his demeanor. "Y-yes yes yes, you're right! That's the one! Something that rare can't just disappear without a trace." he tapped his chin, and Zer0 spoke up. "Check the holomap/ our solution is there/ adventure awaits."

Whisking the eager vault hunters around the large table in the neighbouring room, Salvador joined them as well. "Damn, seems like it's been dragged out pretty far," Mordecai scoffed, bringing up a vague holomap of Wurmwater, then Hayter's Folly. A large marker seemed to send out signals around both areas.

"Pirates, most likely," Maya stated, even if it was obvious. "How did they even get into Sanctuary? Are you sure you even left it here?"

The hunter thought for a moment. The truth hit him. "..Ohhh, that's right," he said, dragging out his words with irritation. "I built a god-damned nest on top of one of the cliffs in the Rustyards." He just left it at that, too embarrassed to admit the obvious.  
"You forgot it there./How foolish and amusing./Leave it all to us." Zer0 emphasized his hardcore teasing by showing a winky face on his mask. Mordecai flushed and sunk his hands into his face.

"Just- GO. YOU KNOW WHERE IT IS. THANK YOU." he waved the 4 off, Salvador and Maya sharing a hearty laugh while Zer0 and Krieg followed suite out of the HQ.

It was decided that the 4 would split and take on the two areas in couples. Zer0 and Salvador gladly teleported to Wurmwater while Maya and Krieg made their way into the nice scenic enclosure of Hayter's Folly.

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[CONTINUE]


	2. In the Water

"Oooh, this is great," Maya stated once they fully materialized, Krieg falling on his rear trying to listen at the same time. He got up as she continued. "Love this place. The fresh smell of salt and warmth of sun all while we kill some sons of bitches."  
He shared the excitement, but not in the same manner of course. Flipping his buzzaxe and slapping it into his palm, he gave a wicked snicker knowing what was to come. The duo ran ahead as gunfire rained down on them, causing action to rip across the map immediately.  
Elemental damage and soaring buzzaxes filled the area and it was cleared of pirates in minutes, Krieg's joyful screaming and chopping complementing the siren's abilities well. It was always a spectacle to see the two in bloody harmony.

Closing in on the cave-like parts of the map, skags and crystalisks momentarily blocked their path. With no drops of Mordecai's legendary sniper as of yet, the duo assumed that they needed to head in deeper- and that always sounded nice to them. More grinding of skulls and melting of flesh. Krieg's frenzy of screaming and rambling about opening veins and grinding the cartilage was almost music to Maya's ears; always a sign they were doing well and breaking no sweat. As long as Krieg was okay, the team's main form of support was never endangered.  
"I LOOOVE THE MEAT POUNDING!"  
The skulls of skags flew in all directions as ankle-biters dared to come too close to the raging psycho, the muscly giant sprinting up the scaffolding and scaring the shit out of the pirates that tried to hide from his fury. Maya kept her pace, healing him when needed and phase-locking the final kill for Krieg to enjoyably disembowel with his buzzaxe like an organic pinata. That always sent him into a jumping fit and often falling off of edges- this time it was the scaffolding, resulting in a sandy-faced Krieg peeling himself from the white ground below. Maya was at his side crouching, watching the blood-soaked man get up with a smirk of pure amusement. The sand stuck to his whole torso and he didn't even bother to swat any of it off. He sped on ahead, his momentum not stopping, and Maya rolled her eyes with a snort. It takes a lot to stop this train!

Reaching the Sandman's Outlook, the duo were more than ready to take on the barrage of pirates ahead. The duo determinedly bolted forward through the clear pool of water towards their prey.  
Before the pirates' salty throats could scream the words 'Vault Hunter', Krieg's buzzaxe would be firmly embedded in their throats, decapitating most of them and dragging their trachea out of the harsh gash the weapon left on them. Maniacal laughter thundered from the psycho as he finally finished off the last Raider, tearing its head from his buzzaxe's blade and tossing it into the air. Before Maya could question it, a shower of red and pink spattered the both of them as Krieg delivered a strong kick to the skull, sending it flying with a sickening series of crackles.  
"HOMMME RUN FoR THE MEAT lORD!" he screamed and ran around Maya in a series of circles.

Maya reloaded all of her weapons, whistling to herself and looking around in confusion- no weapon drop. No legendary Mordecai weapon. Before she could contact the others, their ECHO devices grabbed their attention.  
"Weapon located/Meet you two back at HQ/Mission accomplished." Zer0's voice poured out from the ECHO, a violently screaming bandit hushing in the background with two loud assault rifles burrowing their ammo into his body. Presumably Salvador. "DID YOU SEE THAT? TELL ME YOU SAW THAT." The short man laughed loudly in the distance and Maya spoke up, Krieg still running around. "We'll be there in a few. You know it's never clean after Krieg's done with his bait," she stated bluntly. Zer0 responded. "Understood. Have fun.~" The ECHO ended with Salvador trying to get Zer0's attention with creative cusswords. The two were complete goofballs.

Krieg kept swinging his axe around and his orbit around Maya was oddly shaped, almost running out of the area from such an adrenaline rush. That is- until he realized there was no more pirates. He slowed down with large huffs and panting following his slumping figure, holding his soaked buzzaxe tightly as the sand-coated giant finally braked to a stop in front of the siren. Despite his pent-up rage he always sported, he seemed to be at attention whenever Maya and him were alone, almost like he wanted to be instructed on what to do next.

Maya tapped her chin. "You are NOT going back to Sanctuary like that," she muttered with an obvious tinge of revolt. The stench of ripped flesh and open wounds tinted the fresh air and Krieg just stood bloody, slowly grumbling to himself, scratching an itch on his skull with the blunt part of his buzzaxe. Maya was about to instruct him when she noticed something odd on his boots.

"...Hold on. What's that?" she moved closer to inspect the odd colour that caked Krieg's boots with a pulpish texture. "Look at your feet. They're completely BLUE!"  
Looking down with slight alert, the psycho lifted a leg and stared wide-eyed at the vibrant blue coating that completely covered both his boots. He shook his foot violently, throwing his axe to the side and almost kicking himself in the head.  
"GET IT OFF!" he shouted in an odd pitch, starting to kick at the water around them and stomp aggressively. Maya stood back and actually wondered what it was. Did he run through a field of alien feces? Was the blue water just dyed blue and it got on him? The obvious thoughts made her take the situation as a joke, snickering as he dragged his feet through the clear spring water and burrowing his ankles-

-until one kick accidentally soaked Maya from the head down.

She gave a quick yelp and stumbled back, catching the psycho's immediate attention and making him stop completely. _Good job you idiot, you got her wet! You ought'a love the lecture she's gonna give us,_ his mind started before Krieg dealt a good slap to the back of his head. "SHUUUUSHH."

Maya stood dumbfounded, arms out wide to let the water drip from her limbs. She looked down at herself in slight irritation then looked up slowly at the guilty one, soaked hair flat to her head. "Oooh no, you DID NOT JUST-" suddenly a wave of water smacked against Krieg and he fell back in surprise, rear planted in the water as he gained sight of Maya again.

She approached in a playful manner, arm alight with siren energy. "What's the matter, big guy? Don't like revenge?"  
Krieg's mind raced, looking confusedly at the siren as she approached. _Accept the challenge, buddy. Splash her again. Do it._ His inner voice urged him on, causing his fists to ball in the underwater sand. His foot suddenly came up in a watery kick to distract the siren, scrambling backwards with a final understanding of the situation and standing up eagerly. Maya was already up and using her powers to lift more water than a normal arm could throw at her opponent. Bombarded with water, Krieg found himself skipping around kicking water at the siren as she burst into laughter, the psycho timidly following suite with incomplete sniggers- that eventually erupted into bellowing cackles, fresh and salty water raining on both of them as they circled competitively.

The adrenaline rising again, Krieg had just about had enough and broke the circle, rushing in to dive-tackle the siren and stop the menacing waves she threw. Her innocent laughter turned into a terrified barrage of yelping as she stopped throwing waves and just booked it away from him, hoping to have some sort of speed advantage. No dice. Krieg's cackles grew closer and overpowered Maya's pleas as he took a lucky leap forward, arms outstretched to snatch Maya and bring her down with him.  
"PRETTY MEAT PREY IS THE BEST PREY-" Krieg managed to shout before the both of them inhaled a mouthful of water, a loud SMACK and muting of all sounds enveloped the duo. Krieg was sure he had the siren caged around the waist with his arms, his face being pressed against by the soft cushion of Maya's butt.  
This didn't last long.  
Krieg's catch wriggled out from his grip and stampered out of the water, huffing and heaving from the shock she just experienced. Krieg stayed underwater for a bit, deciding what to do before squirming about and crawling onto land like a dying fish.

Maya was unsure whether or not to be terrified, livid or baffled at what just happened. _Well, I'm not dead,_ She thought positively. That calmed her down a bit, but she was still wary of the recovering psycho flopping on the grass. "Well- I-" she let her arms flap back at her sides with a wet **FWAP**. "...That cleaned you up at least, big guy," she curled her face into a frown. The disoriented psycho got to his feet and on that note looked down at himself, seeing all the blood, sand, and blue stuff cleanly washed from his muscled body. His bandages became loosened from the aquatic mess and his pants seemed to droop lower than usual. He stood dripping wet and completely still for a little bit until his heaves turned back into paceful breaths. Maya seemed to be covering her eyes a bit.

"Pants. Pants. Pull them up-" she gestured wildly with a free hand until he got the hint and he pulled up his orange trousers over his manhood. Knowing the siren's maturity she was probably used to telling the guy to tighten his belt from all the times he'd forget about modesty- whether it be in combat or around the HQ.

All the chaos seemingly over, Krieg had his eye locked on Maya the whole time as she tried batting out the water from her hair and ears, both in constant admiration of the woman and eagerness to take orders from her. He retrieved his buzzaxe once again in case the next direction included that of busting skulls open and kicking brains.

Standing with a bit of sass in her poise, she held a serious face on Krieg, making him a bit uneasy. But, after she took a deep breath, she burst out laughing and clutched her knees with uncontrolled snickering growing louder.

"DID THAT SERIOUSLY JUST-HAPPEN-" she snorted loudly and continued her fit. Krieg wondered if she knew her nice bum was planted into his face for a few solid seconds while they were submerged; odd thoughts started to branch off in his mind and he felt a warm tingle in his chest. He shrugged it off when his inner mind started to tease him about the encounter, giving a few good smacks to the side of his head.

"YOU WERE JUST LIKE- FWOOOOSH," Maya made silly flying gestures with her hands and smacked them together. "AND THEN I WAS LIKE 'AWWW CRAP'," she did a dramatic motion as if she was about to faint then regained her stance. She took a few moments to ramble on about what had happened- probably because she was still shocked- all the while Krieg held his one eye on her without any signs of movement. He held a dumb grin on his face and swiftly followed the siren as she started on her way out of the Outlook.

"That seems about it for pirates bud," she said as she walked, maliwan SMG slung over her shoulder. Krieg jerked his head back and let out a mix between a groan and whine of disappointment.

"I WASNNN'T DOOOONNNE." Swinging his buzzaxe left and right clumsily, the eager psycho and amused siren pressed on back.

On the way however, Maya couldn't help but turn her head to a patch of vibrant blue flowers, the middle of it seemingly trampled by a certain mad-man's boots that left a blue path out to the water...  
"Krieg."  
The towering body of the guy almost tripped over the siren when she stopped, bumping into her shorter frame and stampering back a couple of steps. Krieg muttered something nonsensical but had her attention.  
"Why are we stopPING-" his voice lifted a tad but then his jaw was grabbed by Maya below, her hand turning his head sharply to the side.  
"Blue. That's the stuff that was on your boots." She pointed and made her way over to the brightly coloured flora, making sure not to step in it herself. Krieg instinctively followed over too, holding his jaw where Maya's hand was seconds ago. His face was red from her touch. She crouched down, and reaching forward with her left she carefully plucked one from the stem. There were the tattoos again, catching Krieg's attention, glistening slightly under Maya's wet skin.  
_They've always been there. Just now we're starting to be intrigued?_ his mind scoffed in confusion. His thoughts dribbled over the possible things he could do at that moment until it set on a safe choice. He dropped to his knees and sneakily traced his pinkie over some of the markings as she pulled back in surprise.

"Sheesh, you're pretty touchy today," she'd comment with a raise of her brow, lifting the flower for Krieg to see.  
"I don't remember seeing these the first time we were in here. Do you?" her tone was tinged with interest but also crackling a tad from watching Krieg- his eye was still on her arm, hand ready to reach for it again. Maya saw the obvious change in interest and just dropped the flower, getting up quickly and holding up her arms. "Alright- alright, we're done here I guess, off we go big guy."

The blue maiden sped off with such a scoff overhanging her that it fullheartedly confused her. _Why so- touchy? Touch touch touch. Being a siren has its oddities,_ she quivered as she went ahead. Krieg stayed back for a couple of moments, his curiosity taking over and just watching the tattooed vault hunter trot away a few meters. The way her muscles moved and how lovely of a stride she had-  
_She's astonishingly beautiful. Do you think she knows?_ His outer self grunted in a general distaste from hearing his inner voice, but agreed inwardly as the subtle warmth stirred in his chest again. After a couple of seconds Maya heard the wet stamps of Krieg's boots catch up to her and she managed a half smile as they headed back to Sanctuary.

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[CONTINUE]


	3. Cleanup

At the HQ, a laid-back Zer0 and grime-covered Salvador observed an ecstatic Mordecai caress and smooch his lost and found rifle. It went on for an awkward 15 seconds before the dreadlocked vault-hunter placed the weapon in the bank like a newborn son to a cradle and pivoted on his heels.

"I appreciate this, guys. Even if I did-"  
"-Leave the damned thing in your stupid birdnest?" Salvador piped in with a large grin, Zer0 elbowing him to hush but displaying a **:D** face on his visor anyways. The 4-fingered guy still found the whole situation leading up to this quite amusing, and with two against one, Mordecai just dropped his sense of gratefulness for the duo overall at that moment.

"Would you two SCREW OFF? PLEASE?" his voice cracked and turned sour, crossing his arms and his face going dark in embarrassment.

"Oooh, got your gun back, NOT EVEN GONNA THANK US?!" Salvador burst into laughter and Zer0 mimicked Mordecai's disappointed crossed arms with a **8)** face.

"OKAY. OKAY. THANK YOU. JEEZ." he tried waving them off. "JUST-" his speech was broken up and overwhelmed with the gunzerker's snorting and bellowing laughter, dragging the assassin along with him out of the room. The laughs echoed for a few seconds before a door shut, muting the whole HQ and leaving the Hunter baffled.  
"God-damn..." he'd scoff silently.

The silence seemed to press onward until the familiar entry of two other vault hunters vibrated the flooring below, a soaked psycho and siren entering the cramped building.  
Maya instructed the towering slaughterhouse of a man for a couple of minutes and soon enough they were covered in towels and the laundry machines drummed their odd song. The siren sported a regular tank and fresh cargo pants while Krieg- well- since he sorta lacked any variation in clothing, he just slapped on a new pair of pants from the Quick Change. The only huge difference was the removal of his arm bandages, wrist armour and harness around his shoulders.  
Back on their respective couch covered in towels of all covers, the siren had an unused cloth between both her hands, trying to get at Krieg's face in a struggle. He absolutely HATED having his face touched or even the thought of taking off his filthy mask. Growls erupted from him and he flailed, rolling from the couch to get away from the gal.  
_I think you're forgetting who's trying to do this, dude,_ his inner voice bluntly bit at his skull. "No fiLTHY FACE FOR GLISTENING GLASS HANDS!" Krieg shouted, aiming a fist at his temples and knocking himself against the couch's feet. He stared up at Maya as she glared down in concern, grinning awkwardly.

"Might wanna stop before you do something...dangerous," Maya calmly coerced, tapping the downed psycho with her foot and urging him to sit on the couch again. He did as she demanded, planting his rear on the cushion beside her in a grump. He was afraid to admit that he agreed with his head, knowing Maya was a really good friend of his and HIGHLY doubted her trust becoming sour any time soon. Keeping this in mind, he closed his eyes and swayed his head to face her, unbuckling the mask.

"I know, I know," Maya muttered as Krieg's hand slowly pulled his dirt-ridden covering from his face. Without even getting a glance at the man's hidden features her cloth smushed into his face, leaving a wet imprint on the other side.

"You're not a big fan of others seeing. I know."  
Comically she wrecklessly rubbed and smushed Krieg's face to bits with the dirtying cloth and he made a various combo of grunts and snarls as she did so. Holding back his irritance he dug his fingers into the couch with a deathgrip, making sure those fists don't end up in someone's face. Eventually she tugged back and flapped the dirtied cloth around, saying, "Alright- all set. I'm sorry Krieg."  
_It's always okay, siren,_ his inner voice piped in.  
The dazed psycho grunted; he ran his hand down Maya's hair and pushed on her face gently until he had his mask buckled tightly to his head again, removing his hand from her facials to see a look of pure distaste and amusement. It was hard for her to get mad at him now. She knew that any gesture like that was for his comfort and not to intend any hurt.

"You all good?" she'd ask quietly, throwing the cloth elsewhere and hitting an unaware Mordecai creaking down the stairs. The hunter stopped in his tracks and chucked the dirt-caked rag off of his face and belted back upstairs with shivers of disgust.

Krieg just did as he always did when asked a question- stare indirectly at the asker for a few seconds before reacting. He gave a singular nod and found his eye lurking over the tattoos again. Distracted. Thinking. He furrowed his brow and leant forward- an idea slowly grew inside of him. Something he wanted and just realized for himself.

"Dude?-"

The same calloused hands jerked forward and brought her tattooed arm close to his face again. She just sighed and let him look over it before she realized he was trying to lead her out of the HQ, yanking at her limb as he got up. Her eyes widened; that could only mean one thing. He had an idea. Oh God. Hoping for the best she skittered outside with the psycho as fast as he dragged her, being taken down the streets of Sanctuary for a long bit until stopping. Looking about, Krieg had stopped with her in an empty alley, near the teleport booth. The afternoon sun seemed to beat down on the duo- almost too coincidental. Is this what he planned?

Apparently. Before Maya could even react to any of this, he grabbed her arm again and held it up like a trophy, her wrist hanging limp. The sun beamed right down on her skin and seemed to illuminate her tattoos a bit. When she looked up to the towering guy, his golden iris was dead locked on the phenomena that was her blue markings. She became helpless at that point- _WHAT IS GOING ON WITH YOU?_ She just wanted an answer from the guy other than 'he thinks they're pretty' and molesting them with his eyes. She sensed another motive coming from him, and wanted to know.  
She was going to find out.  
His other hand searched around his pants oddly until he caught a grip of something small. Clutching it between his fingers he gently pulled it forth from one of his pockets: one of the blue flowers.

This surprised the blue mistress. Furrowing her brow she remained silent; she felt like if she spoke, she would be interfering with the man's experiment. As long as it wasn't something awfully questionable or creepy, she felt this whole thing was fine.

Krieg tore his gaze from her arm briefly, looking her in the eye with some sort of plea. His opposite arm lifted the flower and levelled it beside Maya's arm, and form there she formed some sort of clarity. She slowly nodded, putting the pieces together. She knew that if he tried speaking and conveying his idea, it'd come out as a nonsensical rant about violent things without any intention to the original subject.

The flower was the exact same blue as her tattoos.

Krieg shook her arm a tad, as if trying to say 'wait'. Getting her attention on the flower, his grip on her arm loosened as his fist crumpled the vibrant flora between his fingers. The pulped blue material lay mushed in his palm, letting go of Maya's arm to dip a few fingers in it. Using his other hand he seemed to take most of the blue stuff and smear it on his own arm, messily and eagerly until the material ran out. A weird mess of blue scribbles decorated his wrist and he even got some on his torso trying to wipe off the rest.

Maya's head let out a DING of realization, and finally spoke, beholding the psycho's partly blue arm as he held it out next to hers.

"You... wow, that's actually pretty clever," she'd comment timidly. She looked him in the face and it seemed like he faltered a tad, as if her gaze was powerful enough to push the behemoth over. He seemed unsure but eager to do what he intended to.

Maya managed a slow nod, but that didn't seem to cut it. Krieg started to fidget and try and gesture out what he wanted to do, tracing unfollowable patterns up his partly blue arm and poke a finger at Maya's tattooed shoulder. With a soft-hearted chuckle, she dragged his hand away and put a hand on his chest to calm him.

"I get it. It's okay."

The slumping giant loosened his tense poise and let out a sharp exhale, silently grateful that he firstly didn't ruin the whole moment, and secondly got her to understand.

_Huh. That worked._ satisfied, Maya lifted her hand from the hulking psycho's chest, curling her index finger for him to follow. He seemed to garble out a bunch of noises that sounded like a mix of nervous snorts and lighthearted laughter before keeping up with the siren, beating her to the teleport booth to get the duo back to Hayter's Folly.

_I know JUST what to do..._ she thought to herself as they materialized outside of Sandman's Outlook once again. She knew he was interested in her markings- anyone who knows of her siren blood had that natural intrigue. Krieg though... he was different, somehow. He felt them and begged for- something similar. That... that would be creepy in any other character spectrum, but with Krieg's partially childish and primal demeanour, she felt flattered. He was curious. Timid. A tad embarrassed. Wanting to be like her in some way.  
THAT was the difference. It wasn't- creepy. She guessed there was some sort of inner mechanism (that he mysteriously calls the 'little man' sometimes) guiding him to be an inner sweetheart from time to time.

The thought train was halted when Krieg fully recovered from teleport, noisily hoisting up the woman by her shoulders and hopping down from the deck into the clear spring water. She gave a slight yelp at the sudden action and started to laugh, being gently set down into the water that was at knee height. The more cave-like area ahead were where the flowers bloomed.

Krieg felt the siren's hand on his shoulder as her melodic voice rang out. "Wait here- be right back! Put on some shorts or-something!" Her feet took her quickly into the more shaded parts of the springs and left Krieg to wrestle with his thoughts in the clear, warm pool.  
i...Tough luck. We don't even have anything else other than these old pair of pants./i The voice spoke truth in Krieg's head. He shrugged and slumped, just standing where he was awaiting his pretty lady to return.  
_Unless... Hmm. Willing to get risky, tough guy? _His head jerked up at that thought. He loved risks, but he wasn't too sure about what he had in mind. He groaned a low, guttural noise of concern.

"I'll be like- 10 minutes or so!" Maya's voice echoed out from the shade ahead. "Just- occupy yourself for now! I'll try and be quick."

_Perfect. Alright, listen up._ Krieg's brow arched in irritation from his inner voice talking so much, but in a time like this it sounded pretty important to him.

* * *

[CONTINUE]


	4. HQ

The hunter's arm slung over the arm of the couch with Raak ale in-hand, a held-back burp pressing against his closed mouth.  
"Shit... well, finally alone. That's good. Very good." Mordecai took a swig of the beer in his hand and stuffed his face into the nearest couch pillow. The other Vault Hunters were out and about; on a beautiful day like this it was hard to stay inside and occupy yourself- unless you were Tannis, but even she didn't seem to stir from her quarters. That counted as being alone, to the sniper.  
Why not do what he did best? Keep watch. In this case, it was watch over the HQ. Not a bad idea to him-

THUMP THUMP THUMP THUMP THUMP

The familiar stamping echoed and got closer before the erratic breathing of a certain psycho sounded in the room. Mordecai scrambled up suddenly and witnessed Krieg having returned abruptly, sticking his head in one of the laundry machines vigorously.

"Just when I THOUGHT I was alone," he grumbled with a sigh, but not before the towering psychopath flung fresh hot towels in all directions with some hitting the hunter. He fell back to the couch and scrambled through the white abyss of white cloth until his head poked out, just then observing Krieg booking it out of the HQ as if he had no business there anymore. All that was left was the swampy wet boot-print of his trailing out of the building.

"OH COME ON! I JUST SWEPT THE PLACE YOU BIG DOLT!" He scrambled off of the sofa but it was too late to try and confront the giddy giant, standing defeated in the now messily thrown around room. Towels everywhere. Krieg was long gone.

Mordecai let out a scream of frustration of how the day was going so far. Tannis screamed back from god knows where and that hushed Mordy, causing him to curl on the couch in fear. Tannis was extremely scary when irritated or angry. That was just a warning from her to shut up.

* * *

[CONTINUE]


	5. Scarred Canvas

_You know what to do. Hurry though- she should be back any minute,_ the 'little man' echoed in his head. Materializing in the teleport booth, Krieg skittered as fast as he could back to his spot in the clear water, towel slung around one of his arms. The guy was pretty bad at concealing his presence; the loud gushing and splashing of water didn't really help this fact. Flicking his iris around, he quickly darted to the grass nearby and kicked off his boots, grunting in slight discomfort trying to tear off his belted trousers.

One last minute spun by before Maya poked her head out from the entrance to the Outlook. Her brow furrowed and she started walking out to the clear water slowly; where was Krieg? She continued to drag her feet out into the warm spring, a bucket in one hand and other hand fiddling with some sort of instrument. She set the bucket down with an awkward THUNK into the shallow pool and turned around-

Almost breathing down her neck, a nervously slouching psycho was standing RIGHT there, staring her straight in the face. Maya almost stepped back and tripped over the bucket, but balanced herself by gripping the eager Krieg's wrist. She took a deep breath to look over the brute, her face curling up in confusion and amusement; asides from his mask, all he was wearing was a towel. That was it. Tightly tied around his waist. If the situation could get any more Tarzan-like, she'd notice that the knot wasn't a very good one and was slipping already.  
Krieg looked over the siren quizzically as she stepped back, tapping her chin with the instrument in hand. By now, Krieg could see that it was, in fact, a paintbrush. It was obvious the pretty lady came prepared for this, bucket and all. Her hands were caked with the pulpy blue stuff and had some smeared on her face, even.

"...I'm guessing you don't have any shorts?" she asked with a dumb grin, her face reddened with second-hand embarrassment for the man. Krieg only shrugged and scratched his head, pulling up the loosening towel a bit. His bare feet crossed over each other in slight anxiety.  
His mouth garbled a bunch of gibberish before finally forming sensible words.  
"W-will glowing maiden of meat now spatter my flesh with winding blue circuitry?"  
His voice was a mere whisper as if this was some sort of secret to keep between them. He slumped as much as he could to try and level his face with the siren's.

This was going to be fun. For a couple of obvious reasons, but mostly because it'll be hard to predict Krieg's behaviour while she does her magic. A playful and warm smile crept onto Maya's soft lips as she dipped the paint brush into the bucket full of the diluted blue pulp, grinning at the nervous psycho.

"I'm not the best at drawing or anything, just warning you right now buddy," she responded, taking his arm in one hand. "-but yeah. Get comfy. Here I go.~"  
She started with a dab at Krieg's left wrist. The black bristles finally touching his skin made his hand twitch and his body tense up, causing Maya to look up in slight concern. Krieg exchanged a slight nod with her and that urged her to continue, creating a swirl going up his forearm. A slight tan tinted his forearm a paler peach than the rest of him; presumably from wearing that studded armour all the time. The usually covered parts sported a lot less scars and callouses, but it was still recognizable as the flesh of the psychotic vault hunter.

As the siren did an orbit of patterns around his arm, looking at her own arm for some sort of inspiration, she reached his shoulder. Krieg kept curling his fingers and twitching his muscles whenever she'd dab the brush against his skin- letting out momentary grunts as she did her work. Before long, his left arm was fully adorned with patterns alike to Maya's tattoos. With some quiet muttering he held out the finished product before him, twisting it and bending it to see every stroke. His eyes gleamed with delight, but the look of want on his face wouldn't go away. Not just yet.

The siren held out her arm parallel to his, grinning and comparing the patterns. Krieg waggled his fingers and Maya snickered.  
"Is that enough?" she asked quietly, Krieg's head tilting in pure awe. He gave out a slight huff and stood silent for a few seconds, just then turning to look her in the face again. He squinted. Lifting a rough finger he traced the smear of blue on her face, smudging it further and tickling her.  
"O-oh!" she swatted his hand away and snickered.  
"More then?" she grinned, paintbrush dipping into the bin again. Krieg grinned widely underneath his mask and awaited the touch of the maiden's brush again, holding out his other arm. Maya stretched out her hands with a smug smile, ready to continue painting the blank n' scarred canvas her good friend was.  
This went on for another good 10 minutes before his other arm was finished, taking a moment to flail them about giddily. Maya stood back and admired her own work of tribal-inspired swirls, siren-esque patterns and floral dots stamped all over his limbs. Krieg's eye showed that of pure enjoyment and kept its bright stare on her, grateful that she agreed to do this.  
"My- my flesh sticks speak in siren tongue!" his voice lifted, releasing a bit of his excitement, but because of how calm the moment was he piped down again, slowing his erratic breathing.  
Having something similar to Maya somehow comforted him, made him feel happy. That was a good thought for the siren to have. It was relieving to see the guy not irritated or screaming for such a long period of time.

She crossed her arms and looked over the psycho, feeling a slight blush in her cheeks. He looked pretty good with body paint. Krieg seemed to share the strange allure because he was constantly flipping his arms over to see all the work she did. To her, that was- for the least part- pretty adorable.

Krieg thought of what he may have wanted next, and held his breath. The silence of not having the tall-one's exhales being heard actually scared Maya a bit; she looked up to the psycho, curious. He brought his hands to his chest tightly as if he was a bit unsure to ask or speak what he wanted to.  
_You know, it'd be cool if she did that too,_ his inner voice urged on. His knuckles crackled and he let out a frustrated sigh, startling Maya.  
Before she could ask, the unpredictable happened: a snarl erupted from Krieg, then the sound of something unbuckling then swinging his head down to Maya's level, mask making a splash in the water a few feet away. His eyes were shut tightly and his lips being bit down hard, a general red overlapping his scarred features.  
_DID HE JUST-_ Maya stood there in shock, taking a good hard look at his unmasked face, not used to seeing it. She had seen it before, but usually when the giant was asleep or it was crumpled to bits in combat. Either way he would be too dazed or blood-lust taken to care about anyone seeing his scarred facials. This was one of the first times up close- and not threatening to bite off anyone's nose who got too close.

Krieg's hands scrambled to get a grip on Maya's hand with the brush, eventually just dragging it there himself with a whine of anxiety. Maya fumbled but then got the hint, snapping her fingers. Instead of dragging the bluened brush across his face, she traced a finger down his skull instead, easing his tension a bit. Feeling that it was her finger and not the bristles, he opened an eye widely in complete nervousness. He turned his gaze away, getting impatient.  
"Hey. Look at me."  
Krieg just murmured something fearfully under his breath and kept his gaze away from her.  
"Krieg." her voice cracked, dipping the paintbrush into the bucket and daring to grab his jaw. His attention immediately flipped to her, both eyes wide.

"There we go. You alright?" his lip curled and he shut his eyes again, just wanting to get this over with. Maya gave a slight sigh, lifting the brush to the top of his head. She visually traced every marking and scar on his face; there were multiple faded ones leading down his mouth and striking his chin, and most notably one that very deeply gashed his nose right on its bridge. One day, she'll be able to hear the stories of those; for now, she carefully dragged the brush down his left eye as it held closed and down his cheek, feeling his muscles twitch underneath the bristles. After tickling his jawline she dotted his other cheek 3 times or so before lifting back.

"So?" she whispered with glee, wanting to see what he thought. She couldn't take her eyes off of his, almost begging him to open them again. They were a firey golden colour, much like his lust for combat. Seeing both of them at once without any risk of getting hurt really made her feel special.

_So._ Ah, that line again. The redness in his face ceasing only a bit, he daringly opened his eyes and took a step back, waiting for the water to calm from ripples so he could see his reflection. Low and behold he caught a good glimpse of the accurate and vibrant stripe of blue going down his scarred canvas for a face. His eyes seemed to brighten with excitement and he managed a wide grin, rows of jagged teeth curling up from his mouth. Maya laughed a bit louder than intended, but instead of becoming confused, Krieg contributed with a goofy laughter of his own. This lasted for a little bit before the duo calmed down.

The psycho went back to his murmuring and looked pleadfully at Maya once again, taking her painting arm in hand. "More- pulping blue on my veins," he'd whisper, his anxiety dying from how delighted he was. He pointed towards his chest and back this time. Maya just scoffed, nodding anyway and saying, "Alright, there's still a lot of this stuff- why not."

The siren dragged her feet through the spring water to Krieg's backside, tapping him on a shoulder blade and asking him to straighten. At her request the tall vault hunter gave a grunt and rolled back so he was no longer slouching, neck and spine perfectly aligned to his full height. To Maya, this was somewhat terrifying, since the guy always slouched or had a huge hunch. Krieg seemed almost a foot taller now that he was actually TRYING to stand up completely straight. Gazing at his back full-out without the metal harness felt odd to her; as if the psycho was actually naked, but he obviously wasn't.  
...Okay, perhaps he was, considering the only thing concealing his manhood was a loose towel. Speaking of which-  
Maya blubbered out a giggle as she realized the white cloth was a bit too low. She crept forwards and quickly latched her two hands around Krieg's waist and pulled up the towel again. The psycho's face went red and for a second thought the siren was about to do something else, but bit his tongue immediately. He kept forgetting about the sloppily tied fabric around his hips. Thankfully it was just half of his ass she saw.

Without another word, Krieg's shoulder blades twitched and contracted as the ticklish bristles started up and around his neck, then only downwards from there. His spine curled slightly and the psycho resorted to biting his already raw lips in order to hold back the laughter that built up from such tickling. Besides the tickling, the subtle warmth seemed to invade again, slightly growing in his lower stomach.  
"Mmmake my flesh TINGLE with generous strokes of blue-" the little babble of his ended with a snort and burst into a short laughing fit as Maya touched his tailbone with the bristles. Found the sensitive spot. His shaking smudged the last part Maya tried to paint, but it was no big deal.

Grinning wide and trying not to catch the contagious laughing plague, she swooped around with her tools towards Krieg's front this time. Hopefully she wouldn't mess up as much, considering the two were on the edge of Calmville about to dive into the Valley of Screaming Laughter if they weren't careful.  
Something- seemed different about this part, however. Krieg shut up completely. All that remained was an awestruck gaze from his golden irises looking straight at the siren. He moved his arms behind him and stood completely still so she could continue the skillful painting onwards to his torso and abdomen.  
_Control yourself_, his inner mind whispered cautiously, not knowing how ironic that thought was. Maya tapped one of his shoulders and made him lean down a tad so she could get a good starting point easier, not wanting to stand on her tip-toes this time around. The thought of what was to come made him a tad more nervous than what he faced prior, the invading warmth settling and not going away.

With a final nod and reassurance from Maya, the blue-tattooed Vault Hunter whistled a slow tune and started the large strokes around his neck then to his collarbone. His eyes drooped but squinted, his toes curling in the sand. The brush traced along his pectorals and the 'wings' under his armpits, spirals of blue and dabbles dotting him progressively. The beautiful patterns littered his skin as she reached his abdomen, tracing every indent and ab he possessed on his body. He almost lost it, forcing himself to grip his fingers behind his back to resist lifting the woman up and away. The warmth in his lower stomach sparked more intensely.  
He wondered why he felt this and it confused him, making him internally upset- until he realized why.  
Maya was touching him.  
Pretty lady, blue maiden, meat siren, she was touching him. Even if it wasn't her delicate fingers, the very thought that she is directing the generous strokes being laid on his body slightly... _aroused him_.

Maya's whistling grew calmer as the paintbrush traced around his navel. In all things against his will, Krieg threw a hand to one of the siren's shoulders and squeezed it, shaking his head wildly and telling her to stop. She backed off immediately and took this time to look over her last bit of work- or so she thought. Krieg pivoted on his heel and stood there silently, fiddling with something and looking at his reflection for a couple of seconds before huffing, slowly facing the confused siren again.  
The towel seemed to be hanging onto next-to-nothing, Krieg's left leg exposed through the crossing. He seemed to notice and looked down at it, seeing how barren it was, then glued his golden gaze to the siren once again. He seemed a lot calmer now, now that she wasn't touching him. He had a bit more control of his urges now.

The siren's eyes were wide with caution. _Was he just... Okay, is this going somewhere odd? Is that normal?_ a cheeky grin plastered to her face as she leant forward, gently tugging on either side of the towel to prevent any unfortunate 'escapees'. The knot tightened and she was about to pull away before she felt a large hand grip her shoulder. She looked up to see Krieg staring down intensely at her- not her face, but her hip.  
His other hand snaked around to her waist and pulled on her pants, revealing the tattoos going down her curves and her leg. His hand was slapped away instinctively by Maya and she stepped back as the dazed psycho put on a face of embarrassment and apology, blush hitting his facials again.  
His eye traced his exposed leg then he thought of what he just saw. _Just like all sirens. The markings probably go all the way down to her feet,_ his inner voice whispered. Sure enough Krieg could see her tiny toes popping out of the watery sand dotted with the siren markings.  
He craved more of his own. Greedy greedy greedy.  
_Now you're really asking for a risk!_ his mind chimed in again, slightly amused but cautious as well. At this thought the psycho couldn't help but smile in slight mischief. He loved taking risks, after all.  
With his persistence, Krieg didn't even need to speak for Maya to guess what he wanted. She just dipped her paintbrush into the bucket again without taking her eyes off of him and leaned in close to his face, saying,  
"Hold. That. Towel. Or _else_."

Krieg bit the sides of his mouth and garbled something in slight anxiety as he held the edges of the towel tightly. Eventually he found himself being pushed off to the side so the water wasn't up to his knees; now they were in a more shallow part of the pool.  
Bending down, the graceful siren started drawing swirls on his left ankle, having to press a bit harder to get past the prickled hair that dotted his pores. She was surprised to see that some scars even reached his calves and bruises seemed to be...everywhere. It was often a harsh reality to see the damage being done to her friends after a dangerous mission.  
Krieg especially; considering the guy wears next-to-nothing for skin protection, he was a huge meat shield. She ever wondered if he even feels most of the bullets passing through his epidermis.  
-Probably not. If anything, he probably thinks it tickles. Much like he did right now...  
Goosebumps formed on his skin as her brush circled his knee and traced a hamstring up his thigh. His muscles were rock solid; she could really feel their density since she was pressing harder with the artistic tool. She tried with the best of her memory to mimic what she thought decorated her hips and downwards. Whatever was in the middle was not anyone's business; she just hoped Krieg wouldn't ask for something as personal as a genital tattoo.  
Of course, with a little trust, who knows. The two were pretty close after all.

_We're doing pretty well,_ his mind chirped in with admiration. No overreaction or discomfort at all, just the awe-struck gaze of delight smeared on his facials. He held his head down to stare at the nice pretty lady finishing off the rest of his left leg, her brush even going as far down his Apollo's belt as he desired; this caused the warmth inside him to stir a bit behind the towel. He carefully slid the towel a bit when she decided to head around to his backside and try and continue the patterns from his tailbone.  
"Dooo ittt," Krieg's voice sputtered out more ominously than he wanted, but that just made Maya smile smugly.  
"Don't make me regret this, Krieg," she'd say back confidently, tracing over the smudged part on his tailbone and causing him to snerk loudly. Sensitive spot.  
Soon enough the brush found its way to the psycho's rump as he made stupid faces and noises. He found it internally hilarious that Maya was basically tattooing his ass, switching the towel to his right side so she could finish it off.

Exposing his right leg, she would start down at his ankle again. He closed his eye for the final touches on his body, grip loosening on his hips. Admittedly the bristles felt good against his skin. How alike they'd be if they were Maya's fingers...  
Yes- the milky white phalanges slithering up his scarred body, tracing around his leg, wrapping their unpredictable patterns and generous swirls up his calf, past his knee, warmth in his stomach sparking- sparking into a flame. He let out a long, deep sigh as chills shot up his spine and felt extreme calm wash over him.

Maya blinked and stopped what she was doing when she had the sigh reach her ears, but shrugged it off as just some odd satisfaction or gratefulness. Whatever it was, she just continued, the black bristles scraping gently across the inside of his thigh and upwards.  
Her fingers- if they were her fingers- goosebumps trailing in her wake, vigorously reaching...close- close to-

"KRIEG?" The ticklish dragging stopped completely and Krieg forced his eyes open suddenly at the sound of her voice.  
Uh oh.  
Was she done? Was Maya done with her generous body illustrations, her gentle and pleasureful touch with the brush on his flesh-

"KRIEG."  
His head snapped downward and his face dropped almost audibly into a frown of shock and embarrassment. Maya had her head pivoted all the way around and her hand waved wildly, tapping his knee with a palm. A white trail of cloth hung in a circle around his feet...

_...You let go. Not me. You. Good job._  
Growling his irritance at his inner voice he backed away from Maya's knee slapping and stood stunned.

"Pick it up- I'm done anyway- Please-" she snorted and held her face in her hands, snickering uncontrollably. Krieg just spent a good 10 seconds looking at himself in the water, slowly spinning in a 360 to see every detail. Only thing left untouched was obviously his manhood, which stood slightly erect from his earlier thoughts. He was a walking piece of art now, no longer blank with scars and bruises, but decorated with the vibrant blue seen on his pretty lady. Never knew it was possible that a murderous death giant could be so giddy at this moment.

_Yeah- listen to Maya, go ahead and-_  
Disregarding his head completely, his pent up excitement turned him towards the siren eagerly with arms spread, crouching down with a loud THUD in the shallow water and pulling the oblivious Maya close to his painted chest. His legs caged around her and she yelped out a couple of protests, kicking at the water viciously before feeling her legs being hoisted up from under her and tucked in a crumpled mess inside his death hug. She tried not to think about how the psycho was completely nude and how his member pressed against her side-

"You build the lustful embers inside me," he'd whisper, boaring his face into her shoulder and allowing her to breathe. Maya's face lit up in surprise. _LUST?_ her face flushed. "Is- is that a thank-you? I'll- I'll take that as a thank you. Yeah." her serious tone faltered and crackled under the man's crushing embrace, unsure how to even take this gesture. The happiness was too contagious for her to give a damn. The affection was obvious, but was it platonic?  
The aroused swelling on him sort of told her otherwise, making her a bit tense, but considering how naive the both of them were on such a complex subject...  
She just chose to hug him back, which made him shiver slightly. He didn't expect his embrace returned by the siren, caging each-other tightly like they were one.  
"Anytime, big guy. Anytime." she let her head hang over his shoulder and felt him make a series of garbles and sputters signalling that of nervousness, but eventual relaxation, loosening his grip on the beautiful woman and taking the time to trace her tattoos again. This time he went down her arm and down her side, making her gasp and hold in a scream from how much it tickled her. His fingers, being a rougher texture than most of his body, always caused a more sensitive reaction when one is touched with them. Maya was no different, actually trying to pull away from the psycho now that he found her weak points.  
"STOP- OH MY GOD-" she landed a nice kick to his chest and propelled herself from his tight embrace, standing victorious in the shallow pool. She snapped her fingers and pointed down at the towel fiercely, feeling in control again. Krieg was looking up at her with eyes so wide he scrambled forwards and harnessed the towel right away, fumbling the wet thing in his grip and draping it over his pelvis again with a wet SLAP.  
Maya was finally able to stare him down without slipping a look downwards accidentally. Not that she minded, in the back of her mind. The comfort they experienced around each other now was unbelievable.

_Don't be stupid now. This is going to do us no good, _his inner mind piped up when he was on his feet again, holding the towel in front of him sheepishly. He just looked down briefly and yawned loudly, shooting a competitive glance to Maya before pivoting on his heel and dragged towards the grass, where he ripped off his pants.

Maya didn't even cover her eyes, just watching the strong psycho walk off in the opposite direction. She couldn't help but take a good hard look at his hulking back muscles move in harmony with his rear and hamstrings. _Damn,_ she felt flushed and held a hand to her lips, biting her bottom half.  
Watching him move without the intent of killing or running to the nearest area with cannon fodder felt different, definitely. For once his movements seemed non-erratic; dare she think, she thought he looked normal for once. Never mind that he was blatantly naked and littered with bright blue patterns- the man was built. Incredibly so. The siren's head filled with thoughts of how many others would have the privilege to see such a psychotic man be so... calm. Krieg most obviously preferred her company over the other Vault Hunters'. It was hard to say how many rare times Maya could keep him like this for so long; before he starts shouting insane babbles and poetic rants at the top of his lungs again. That's the Krieg that all the Vault Hunters knew.

Maya... knew a different Krieg.  
She liked it.  
She guessed it's sort of... 'her' Krieg. Friend Krieg. Companion Krieg. The silly, affectionate and confused mess of a guy. Not the bloodthirsty, murderous and aggressive one.  
iI guess there's more sides to him than previously thought,/i she concluded with a smile, looking away shyly as he struggled to kick his trousers on again. He couldn't stop marvelling at his drawn designs and found himself distracted for a bit, but it wasn't long until the familiar thumps of his feet trushed through the water again, towards Maya. The woman turned to see the psycho with a wide, mischievous grin on his face, eyes narrowed and gleaming gold with determination.  
Uh oh.  
She held her breath, bringing her arms to her side nervously, taking a step back. What now?  
"Okay okay- tell me what's going on mister," she would chirp quickly as he paced faster towards her. Predator moving in for the kill. His blue hands waggled and his eyes lost some of their hostility at the sound of her voice.  
"S-soundful songs pour out of your skiiiiin," he'd say quietly, before his voice picked up a bit and his hands spread out wide. "I must HEAR THE LAUGHTER! HANDS TRACE THE MARKINGS, BEAUTIFUL VOICE GIGGLES ME GIDDY!"  
THAT WAS IT. That was all she needed to hear. i...Tickle fight. OH MY GOD-/i Hugging herself as some sort of protection, she gasped loudly as Krieg literally broke out into a sprint, one blue arm forward with a finger outstretched to get her.  
NOPE NOPE NOPE- She yelped and the chase began, first being erratic circles and slowly growing thinner as the psycho's thicker legs cornered in on her. Skidding to a stop, Maya thought quickly and put out one leg out of instinct- **FWOP**. Krieg's momentum couldn't stop him in time and he tripped head-over-heels through the siren's trap and landed smack straight onto his face in the water. She burst out cackling, tinged with the evil satisfaction of victory, stamping her foot in the water. The hilarity of exploiting Krieg's recklessness would always amuse her, but only if he never got hurt in the process.  
The psycho peeled himself from his sandy destination and quickly dug his hands into his pants, pulling out fistfuls of sand and tossing them about.  
He was fine.  
Maya's victory was short-lived. Using her laughing fit as an advantage, he wrapped a hand around one of her ankles, shutting her up in a second. Uh-oh.  
TUG.  
She shrieked and went down with a splash, kicking Krieg in the head with her free foot 3 times or so while he pretended to bite her toes. He snarled playfully and grabbed hold of her other ankle skillfully, standing up and dragging her through the pool while she flailed helplessly. SHE was the fish this time. She spat water everywhere as sand turned to dirt, then grass.

"ThrriilL OF THE CATCH!" he'd shout victorious, a flopping Maya being pulled towards him as he perched his rump on the dry ground.  
"NOT FAIR! DAMMIT-" her arms fell limp to her sides as her hips were grabbed and hoisted up and into another death hug. This time he held tighter, a tad aggressively, and his fingers went to work jabbing her in the sides and causing her to scream in laughter.

_Just be careful. Remember, you don't want to hurt her._ The thought faded in the psycho's head and it only made him grin more as Maya threatened to use her powers on him. "I CAN'T EVEN TICKLE YOU- THIS IS NOT FAIR- NOT FAIR!" Her laughter turned into panting and her wreckless thrashing did nothing to free her, and slowly she found herself out of breath, cussing at him playfully and eventually just giving up, eyes going glossy and falling limp.  
"Ssssstop..." she'd spit out in a final whisper before she fell silent. Krieg immediately stopped his attack and clenched his fists, releasing the siren from his leg cage and watching her fall with it. He grew tense with worry and chewed on his lip anxiously.  
_She just fainted. You're alright. Let's just-_  
Her breathing was gentle but noticeable, and at that the hulking man calmed himself. He had no idea this would happen; he didn't even know he was good at such a thing. Then again, it was hard to say if that was good or bad.  
Gently the giant pushed Maya from his crossed legs so she was resting on the grass. He sat for a couple of minutes pondering what he could do before a light lit up in his cranium, and a shy smile.

He scooted back and onto his knees, shuffling towards the knocked out siren and resting so he was just over Maya's stomach, sitting intently. She only stirred a tad; she was exhausted. Quite seriously. He wiggled his hips giddily; he knew she couldn't slap his limbs away now.  
_Are you seriously going to go through with this?_ his mind quivered.

_...Do anything stupid, I'm taking control of us. I'm not kidding._ Itching his ear to rid of the voice temporarily, the psycho didn't hesitate to lean down and gently tug at her tanktop, folding up the cloth up to her chest and stopping there. He was in awe- he couldn't recall ever seeing the siren's silky skin this close before. If at all. He'd been modest in not peeking when she'd shower or change when they were alone around HQ; it was hard to say, but there was some obvious gentlemanly behaviour left behind from his amnesia. For the least part, that's what brought the two so close today.  
Even Axton had worse behaviour issues in that aspect.

There they were. The markings surely travelled in loops and spirals all the way up the left side of her body. His fingers started to delicately trace them, and with success Maya wouldn't even twitch at his touch.

Her skin- even if he was unfairly taking advantage of it- felt sweet to his rough fingerpads. He shuffled down on her body, blushing a bit from rubbing against her, and gently tucked her tanktop back down, but... it didn't seem like he was done. Not yet.

* * *

[CONTINUE]


	6. Poker Night

The sun was ablaze and setting quickly on Sanctuary. Red rays that stung the eyes spread in strips over the HQ as the Vault Hunters, old and new, began to settle in from their various trips.

In particular, the large table in the hologram room was adorned with poker chips and money, a hushed and silent Brick, Salvador and Lilith sitting intensely around it. They all held major stone faces as the lone light above the table dulled the dark room.  
Staring.  
Concentrating.  
Cards held up like knives between their digits. Fire in their eyes-  
"OKAY, OKAY."  
A baffled voice muffled behind the closed door then it burst open, flooding the room with light and silhouetting a wide-grinning Mordecai, standing confused and oblivious to their poker game. Lilith growled in irritance and Brick + Salvador piped up in annoyed hisses, the harsh noises knocking Mordy on his rear.  
"Woah woah woah, sorry-"  
"SHHH," Brick held a large finger to his lips. Lilith followed suite. i"PEOPLE ARE ASLEEP. WHAT'S UP?"/i  
Dumbfounded, Mordecai peeled himself up quickly and tried whispering.  
"Okayokay- Krieg and Maya are back- DID YOU SEE HOW THE PSYCHO LOOKS?-"  
"SHHHHHHHHHHHHH."  
"Oh come ON I just-"  
"SHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH."  
Salvador got up from the pile of books he sat on (with the chair) and slammed his hands on the table.  
"AMIGO. WE. DON'T. CARE."  
As if in unison the 3 vault hunters hissed and got up from their seats, causing a horrified Mordecai to slam the door and book it out of there. _THIS. DAY. SUCKS! JESUS CHRIST._  
Never interrupt Poker-night. Ever.  
Scoffing profusely, the hunter kicked the ground in his frustration and retreated to his room. Wow. Hopefully tomorrow wouldn't hold as much bullshit that he put up with today.  
He wasn't kidding about the duo that recently returned, however...

* * *

[CONTINUE]


	7. Moonlight

Moonlight basked through blinders into the void of a room. Slowly, the stirring of blankets were heard, slowly turning and swishing about in confusion.  
Two white optics stretched their coverings out slowly and blinked quizzically, the sight above them being a ceiling with a fan quietly circulating air throughout the room.  
Well, guess Maya was back at HQ.  
Groans erupted from her throat and she stretched out, her body still feeling a tad damp. It took her a second or so to remember the events that happened before they returned home.  
...Wait. How did she get here-?  
Sitting up with slight pops crinkling across her back, her arms stretched out full-length above her head with a satisfying moan.  
The room was almost pitch black, but she could easily fix that. Laying down on her side, she took a moment to realize there was a huge gap of time between her tickle assault at Hayter's Folly to being transported to Sanctuary. She could only list one way in which that was possible...  
Focusing, she took a deep breath and let energy flow through her arm, lighting up her wrist. She looked over and flinched suddenly.  
A masked Krieg revealed to be leaning on her bedside- just his head. The rest of him draped on the floor lazily, gentle breaths pushing out of him. He was fast asleep.  
Lighting up the area around her more, she scrambled quietly to get on her knees. She itched at her opposite shoulder and felt oddly exposed and wet as she crouched, but she shrugged it off, too much in awe at the sleeping giant at her bedside.  
Krieg had carried her back presumably. And with that he wasted no time to tuck her into bed and make sure she was okay. That is- until sleep grabbed him. His closed eye twitched through his mask as the siren stirred; the vibrant blue stripe still dashed down his skull and past the said eye, not seemingly faded at all. As Maya carefully swung herself up again and raised her arm, it seemed that all the markings were still there, all the way to his feet- she could even see halfway down his leg due to his pants being low again.  
She smiled. Should she wake the giant? She leant back against the wall and watched his body slowly rise and fall with every sleepy breath. His head still lay elevated with her mattress, chin resting on her sheets. She wiped her face with a bare palm as it itched further; nothing big she reckoned. The water must tickle her or something.

_...Why not._  
Carefully, she reached over with her illuminated arm and brushed the top of Krieg's shaved head with her thumb, just to see his reaction.  
He stirred lightly and gutturally purred.  
Surprised, Maya tried it again, with her whole hand this time. She felt around his temples and rubbed gently, feeling around to the buckle at the back of his head and stopping. Would he get mad if she tried?  
The guttural chuffs turned into groans of awakening as the psycho's body curled inwards, his head slowly lifting from its spot. A golden iris appeared as his visible eye opened, pupil dilating to adjust to her blue light. He seemed a tad alert that he had fallen asleep during his 'watch', his shoulders shooting up in slight embarrassment but easing immediately. He gave off a tiny grunt in frustration of how he let exhaustion take him from guarding his pretty lady.  
Her gentle touch dragged his anxiety away as his head was massaged. He closed his eyes and gripped the bedside with both hands as she continued, not even making any hostile moves when the mask buckle was undone. He let it slide from his face and roll to the floor, letting Maya have full view of Krieg's pleasured and sleepy expression.

"Thanks a lot, friend," she'd whisper his way, one of his eyes lazily opening to aim up at her. Very generous for bringing her back to Sanctuary and not getting distracted, heading straight to bed. No questions asked. She always knew that if it was anyone else they'd be thrown to the floor and he'd run off to kill something.

His chin rested on the sheets again, the muscles in his cheeks relaxing his painted face. It was hard to tell the time, but it was definitely late. His body seemed to slump under him again and his hands barely hung onto Maya's bedside.  
She had never seen Krieg feel so much...peace. The thought of her being the cause warmed her inside.

_...I trust him._  
Maya's thoughts raced and came to a conclusion. Dimming her energy a tad she reached with her other arm to pull on one of his hands, his optics opening in surprise. His eyelids were heavy and he couldn't hold them open for long, however.  
With whatever energy was left in him he gently enveloped his hand around Maya's glowy arm and pulled himself up, struggling but succeeding with her help.  
The hulking psycho dragged his painted body up and over her mattress, carefully positioning himself on the creaky bed beside his gorgeous siren. The look on his face was slightly twisted into that of 'are you sure about this' kind of worry and his hands shivered, but all of his doubts went away as Maya traced the vibrant blue stripe going down his skull with a soft finger. Her finger stopped at his scarred lips and his nervous breathing hushed. The anxious psycho let out a small sigh and smiled softly, dragging one of his fingers down Maya's face in an odd, almost planned-out pattern down to her chin. She let out a single giggle.

The dim blue that cast onto the two slowly faded from her arm, and the room was black. Only the gentle ruffling of sheets as Krieg curled himself around her could be heard. His shaky hands gently curled around Maya's shoulders and pulled her close.  
Without another word, the two were rocked to sleep.

* * *

[CONTINUE]


	8. Blue

Yells and humoured ramblings spread throughout HQ as life begun to stir about the building. Maya's eyes flew open in alert and irritance when loud footsteps stamped past her door and rumbled the floor.  
With a soft grumble she closed her eyes and roused from her crumpled position, flapping at the seemingly empty bed.  
_Krieg?_  
She didn't panic, shrugging and stretching her limbs out. She knew the guy was always up at it pretty early; evidence of that was sprawled within her sheets somewhere. She was feeling around with her hands until she felt the familiar grungy texture of his pants.  
She snickered. The thought of the Vault Hunters chasing him down to get him to a quick change station was all she could think of.

Swinging her legs over the side of her bed, she finally opened her eyes. Morning sunlight dipped through the window and almost seemed to hit her body directly; that... made her look down at herself.

She gasped loudly, holding back her surprise by taking a fist to her mouth. She felt around her face and stuck out her usually-blank arm, baffled.

They were small, but it was all there. Now that she could actually SEE herself she saw the cute, fine patterns of blue swirling all up her arm and generously connecting to her neck and collarbone. She was still wearing that tank from yesterday; she was scared to see where else the blue circuits led to.

With a deep breath she dipped down and pulled her cargo pants off viciously, kicking them to the floor. Eyes went wide. The small yet intricate lines, circles and shapes trailed down her bare leg and her blank foot was now exactly mirrored with the markings on her other foot.

_They're- they're so- Neat_, she'd spit out the thought baffled, squinting to see the amount of detail. They looked much better than the job she did with the big psycho.  
That made her think.

_...He's a better artist._  
That thought made her face curl up in amusement. A giant murderous death machine- a good drawer? She felt burned that her friend totally creamed her at this painting stuff- then her face went red.

The markings also seemed to trail up her hip.  
She lifted the band that her panties held around her hips and saw the markings travel fluently up her blank waist. Krieg obviously was a bit naughty and moved around her clothing a bit in order to get at every inch.  
...She only hoped his modesty clued in.  
She held her breath and swooped down to throw her tanktop off from her torso, expecting the unexpected.  
Yep.  
From her navel and upwards, the normal tattoos on her side were connected and continued to her other side and webbing up her back, even circling around her breasts and neck. Some lovely swirls went down her middle in an odd blue harmony.

"...He better not of-"  
A tinge of embarrassment broke her previously marvelling thought process, lowering her bra. Yep. She was decorated on each one. There was an awkward spot with no patterns near her nipples, but that for the least part calmed her head. Maybe he just shifted her around and, as the gentleman he was, didn't even bother with such a sensitive area.

_Damn it... damn it, Krieg!_  
She remained on her bed, grinning wide and just gazing in delight at her decorative skin. On the far wall there was a mirror; from where she sat she could see the brilliant blue stripe going down her left eye.

Just how Krieg traced with his finger the night before.

_SNEAKY. BASTARD._

He wanted them to match. After wanting both sides of his body possessing such beautiful blue circuitry he wanted his wonderful friend to match as well.  
Maya couldn't help but feel her whole body go red thinking about all of this. A psychotic, murderous, reckless and merciless killing machine did this. Not on intents of marking her as a target or making her hideous.  
But as a good friend. Perhaps more?

After fanning herself off, the siren dressed herself and stumbled out into the open streets; Sanctuary was bustling with activity, but every once in a while passerby would shoot a look of confusion to the Siren and someone else that seemed to be leaning next to the entrance.  
Before she could turn around a hulking hand brushed a finger behind her ear and a familiar guttural voice muttered from behind her.  
"S-shall we gooo?"  
He was getting better at that.  
A wide smile formed on her face and, without hesitance, she took the large hand on her shoulder and folded one of her hands in it. The psycho let out a small gasp as Maya stood at his side, hand-in-hand, looking up at him with her nicely painted face.  
Friend paint. War paint.

_She's- she just-_ Not even his inner voice could comprehend how she just took his hand hostage.

"So?~" she'd ask in that familiar tone, making his heart skip a beat. This was Maya. She was okay with the beautiful work done on her skin.

_...I feel we've grown closer._ Krieg smiled at that thought, mask subtly showing his glee from holding the siren's soft hand.

And so they were. The two fully painted Vault Hunters set off, ready to show unfortunate foes that- once again- they were the most dangerous duo on Pandora.

A siren. And a psycho. HER psycho.

And they'll know they're together.

* * *

3

* * *

**I hope you enjoyed this as much as I did writing it. I'll definitely experiment with these two's future and go more into depth on Krieg's personality. This was a huge challenge, it was hard, but fun, and I'll be doing more of this in the future.**

**Thank you all. 3**


End file.
